We were provided a vehicle loan for review purposes. Opinions are our own.
The 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser is one solid vehicle! It is a full-sized SUV with three rows, seating up to eight people. Is this the best SUV for a family? If you are looking for a luxury SUV where the price is not an option and you have a garage that can house it then – sure! The Land Cruiser is all-wheel drive, equipped with a ton of standard features that would be extras on other vehicles. It is very comfortable and easy to drive.
Really! The 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser a good looking SUV. It’s stylish with a boxy exterior with some nice curves on the hood. I loved the color – Brandywine Mica. The interior is attractive with large plush leather seats. What I first noticed, outside of the color, was the size of the Land Cruiser. It’s massive and it’s tall. It’s one of the first times I had to pay attention to height maximums in parking lots. The overall height is 74” with an overall width of 77.95”. Every time I looked around me, the Toyota Land Cruiser was bigger than any other car in the vicinity. City life is not always cut out for large vehicles especially when it comes to parking. It was a challenge to find spots on streets in my neighborhood. It’s also not easy to maneuvers through narrower side streets. Obviously, it’s doable, but I was very aware of my surroundings and considerate of other drivers.
The interior is definitely spacious. It offers plenty of headroom, leg room and the 3rd-row seats fold up to create a large cargo space in the back. My husband transports his drum set to gigs so there was plenty of room for groceries, road trip items and drums. I also liked the tailgate that folds down to help with placing items in the back.
For passengers, they will enjoy the dual 11.6-inch video screens. My daughter and her friends were all over this. I try not to rely on digital devices on trips but on long road trips it does help balance the time. The system can be controlled with the remote that is stored in the armrest. I popped in a DVD from the front and they were happy. The system came with two wireless headsets. The DVD entertainment is a definite plus and a standard feature! Passengers also get to warm or cool down with seat controls. Front passenger and 2nd-row passengers can control their own climate. That comes in handy as I’m always hot and my daughter is always cold! There are 28 vents in the vehicle plus we had a sunroof which is not a standard feature.
The steering wheel is heated and you can also find the controls to the audio system on the steering wheel but I didn’t find it as user-friendly as some other vehicles. I couldn’t figure out how to switch channels or use the different entertainment options via the steering wheel.
A couple of other concerns was that the Land Cruiser guzzles gas. 13/city 18/highway. A ride down to Anaheim to Los Angeles took up almost ¾ of a tank. Since I spend most of my time cruising the streets of L.A. or on road trips, it probably wouldn’t be a feasible option. One other feature that I felt was underwhelming was the stereo sound. The vehicle is equipped with the Entuen Premium JBL audio with navigated navigation, Sirius, iTunes, Pandora, iHeart Radio and more. My husband who is a musician always likes to check out the sound system in a car. The JBL speakers were a bit of a letdown. I wanted a booming sound from a booming car. This was only when playing the radio and Sirius. My husband connected to the Bluetooth and streaming from his phone produced a more desired output! Not sure why there was a discrepancy between the two as all levels and the equalizer were set the same.
For safety, I love the reverse camera and the 360 view. This definitely came in handy when parking this huge vehicle. I felt that the screen isn’t as clear as other models I’ve driven but this is definitely a must-have feature in a car of this size. I did like the car’s navigation search ability to look by street, attractions but the dashboard screen was hard to press at times.
Other features – the car has a Smart key entry/on off button. The center console is equipped with a cooling box which is a sweet feature for outdoor adventures. We used it once but to be honest I would prefer the space for other things. Plus, the car has an insane amount of cup holders (Love! You can never have enough)!!
My husband and I both drove the vehicle and we had pleasant experiences. There’s a lot to like about the Land Cruiser but I feel that it’s best suited for a suburban family who experiences real winters and can afford the price (starts at $84k). It’s a powerful car that is probably best for off-road drives. I definitely felt safe in it and didn’t feel like it would tip over like in other SUVs I’ve driven. I truly enjoyed the way the Land Cruiser handled. I thought it would be a bumpy ride but the suspension on the car is excellent.
